Hundreds gather wreaths at veterans’ cemetery

Amidst a sea of white headstones, more than 400 people collected Christmas wreaths Sunday afternoon during the culminating event of the eighth annual Friends of the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery’s Wreaths for Veterans project at the cemetery.

Despite the bitter cold wind, Sgt. Secoya Allen, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command, happily gathered wreaths alongside fellow members of the nonprofit motorcycle club, Unleashed Beasts.

“In the club, we’ve lost a few friends that are buried here. It’s a good thing to do,” Allen said. “It makes you feel good.”

Local motorcycle groups are active in community service, said Amy Shores. She is a member of the Queens of Sheba, an all-female motorcycle club.

“We come out here every year. Many of our members are military veterans. It’s a beautiful thing,” Shores said of the community support for the military.

“This is our way of paying respect to the fallen soldiers,” said Pam Townsel, an Army veteran. “It touches your heart.” she said, citing the mixture of sadness and pride she feels as she looks out over the rows of grave markers, contemplating “our brothers and sisters in combat.”

Each year the cemetery adds about 1,000 graves.

“We started with 400 wreaths, and now we have over 5,000,” said Hilary Shine, Killeen city spokeswoman. The event is a massive undertaking that requires thousands of volunteers and fundraising throughout the year.

The wreaths were prepared before Thanksgiving, and then placed at the headstones Nov. 30 by thousands of volunteers.

Following Sunday’s retrieval, the wreaths will remain in storage until next year.

Six cadets and four senior members of the Shoemaker Composite Squadron, of Belton, and Apollo Composite Squadron, of Georgetown, Civil Air Patrol attended the wreath gathering in uniform.

“It’s not as flashy as putting (the wreaths) out, but we do the things that need to be done,” said Cadet Collin Grahl.

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Source: Killeen Daily Herald (Lozano, 01/06)

Birthday crash almost snuffs 3 lives

A birthday celebration gone bad nearly cost the lives of three Bandera men during the early morning hours of Friday, April 27.

According to witnesses, Nancy Cruz, 28, of Bandera, was celebrating her birthday at the Longhorn Saloon on Bandera's Main Street. Shortly after midnight, Cruz left the bar and "drove her 1999 Mustang south on Highway 16 at a high rate of speed," preliminary Department of Public Safety reports state.

In the vicinity of the River Oaks Motel and Sonic, she apparently struck a motorcycle from behind and two pedestrians who were walking along the side of the road.

Cruz fled the scene, according to DPS reports.

Both pedestrians were air-lifted to University Hospital in San Antonio with serious injuries. The motorcycle rider was transported to Boerne Methodist by ambulance.

Cruz was arrested later in the day after turning herself in and, according to Bandera County Sheriff's Office arrest reports, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

According to Capt. Charlie Hicks at BCSO, "there may be possible additional charges, pending a completed investigation."

According to Hicks, a Texas Ranger assisted the DPS with the investigation. He was not able to confirm if the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) was conducting an investigation regarding Cruz's condition at the Longhorn.

The motorcycle rider, 18-year-old Dakota Bates, had left work at the Longhorn where he was reportedly helping with the karaoke and on his way home, traveling south on Main Street.

According to a close family member, Bates "is home and is recovering."
The two injured pedestrians were Claude "Cowboy" Beghly, 43, and Eric Armstrong, 29, both of Bandera.

Beghly had been released from the hospital by Monday, April 30.

According to Armstrong's father, Eloy Armstrong, the young man suffered from bleeding in the brain and a lacerated liver, among other injuries.

[click here if you've been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Texas]

"Eric and Cowboy were walking either to or from the Shell Station," said Eloy. "They had nothing to do with it, they were just innocent bystanders."

The father was referring to rumors flying around town that Cruz had left the Longhorn angry at a bartender who had asked her to leave, waited outside until the bartender got off work, and then ran over him. However, Bates was not working as a bartender.

As of late Monday afternoon, the younger Armstrong was still in intensive care, heavily sedated, but improving, his father said.

Cruz bonded out of jail on a $75,000 bond on Saturday, April 28.

BCSO dispatch records show the accident happening at 12:27 am.

The investigation into the accident is continuing under the direction of the DPS with assistance from the BCSO and the Texas Rangers.

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source: Bandera County Courier (Edwards, 5/3)